E-Fan?

[Fat Jack]

OK Ford brainiacs, i have a ? for y'all boys. Actually a few ?'s for y'all.
1st. what are the HP gains from switching to an electric fan?
2nd. is it true that you aren't gaining HP but freeing up HP that your motor already has by reducing drag and weight (them clutch fans weigh a ton)
C. Does it affect the altenator by have having the extra amp draw from the electric fan?
D. How many CFM's are suffesiant?
and 5th which fan kit would you use?

any help understanding this would be great.

 

[Lane24]

Thermo would be your E-fan guy. I think he's a huge supporter of the conversion. Hopefully he'll see this and chime in, or you could pm him.

 

[ELVATO]

1. Rough guess, I think I remember seeing the numbers 5-10HP to 15-20HP being thrown around.

2. I would suppose so. The first thing you will definitively notice is the quicker throttle response as well as colder AC for when you are stuck in traffic.

C. Depends on the controller you use. If you get one with a soft-start option, but amp draw isn't as big since it'll start the fans off slowly. Besides, unless you sit in traffic a lot, the fan never really turns on full blast.

D. Not sure what the stock fan pulls, but I've seen kits that pull +4100 CFM being called sufficient. A Mark VIII fan pulls around 5000 CFM.

The thing is, the fan is really only useful for when you are sitting still in traffic, or doing under 20 MPH. Anything above that, and the air being forced into the radiator outflows whatever the fan can pull. The stock fan wouldn't be so bad it if actually completely freewheeled during these times. It, however, likes to spin even when not needed.

5. Personal preference. Read around, but make sure to get a good quality fan controller.

 

[tonydiv]

Go to the flex a lite site, they have dyno results based on installing their dual fan setup.

 

[Thermo]

Fat Jack, I have done this mod and I think it is well worth the time, effort and money. The big thing I like with the modification is the low end power gain that you get. Almost all other mods only net you top end power. This gives you gain across the whole RPM band.

As for your questions. The power gain that you can reasonably expect is about 6 hp and 8 ft-lbs of torque at all RPMs. Now, this assumes that your fans are running. So, you will see slightly more if the fans are not required (say 10 hp and 15 ft-lbs or torque). As you eluded to, you are not making more power, you are simply freeing up the power that is being used by the truck. To ensure cooling, you need atleast 3,000 cfm of air to be present when your fans are running (more on this in a bit).

As for the effects on the alternator, as long as you are running the 130 amp alternator, it isn't an issue. It only becomes an issue if you start adding other items that require lots of power (off-road lights, high power stereo, winch, etc). At this point, you need to consider upgrading your alternator.

As for the fans used, I am running dual 14" Derale fans. Each one is rated at like 1600 CFM. I have mine set up on separate controllers. The controllers are set up about 5F apart from each other. So, most of the time, I only have a single fan that kicks in. This is more than adequate to keep the motor cool, even on the hottest of days, as long as the A/C is not going. Kicking on the A/C, you need to make sure that both fans are running to give you the full 3,000+ CFM of air. Keep in mind that if you are driving over 30 mph, the fans will never kick on since you have more than 3,000 cfm of air already moving through the radiator. So, there is no need for the fans. This is less load on the engine, therefore you don't need as much of the gas pedal, therefore, better mileage.

The big failing point of most e-fan setups is the controllers. You get what you pay for. I recommend one of the digital ones that has an integrated relay. You can go cheap and get one of the wire wound controllers, but in a year, you are going to be cussing up a storm because your fans are not working. TRUST ME!!!!!!! I have more guys that went cheap and ended up spending the money later.

As you can see, I know a thing or two about this. If you have any mor equestions, just ask.

 

[robbieg]

I installed THESE FANS a couple weeks ago and so far I could not be happier. Both of them just fit, it's nearly perfect and they pretty much cover the entire radiator top to bottom and side to side. Using advice from Thermo's posts and others on this site it was an easy job. I ran each fan off of a separate controller so that if one controller fails I still have cooling. I have the first one set to come on at 197 and the second 5 degrees higher but they move so much air that I have yet to see the second one come on during normal driving in the FL heat. They are very quiet and my A/C is performing better in stop and go traffic and idle. The A/C connection can be made right at the left of the radiator behind the headlight on the high side line. The high pressure cut off switch is right there and one side of the switch is hot anytime the A/C is on. These are the controllers I used: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product__3670006-P_N6003C_P|GRP2061A

The coupon code VISA will get you $30 off of $75 so I got them for $24.83 each. I haven't had them long enough to give you real world numbers but so far I love 'em. The truck is getting Line-X'ed right now but when I get it back I will take some pictures of the set up.

 

[spadesluck]

Thanks Robbie for the heads up on the controller you are using. I was going to go with this one: http://www.nthcoast.com/store/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=67&products_id=1175 but it looks to be just about the same thing you got and yours is cheaper. Northcoast performance can put the package together for $80, this will get you the 2 14" fans and that adjustable controller. I just dont know if it would be worth it to go two controllers.

 

[robbieg]

Thanks Robbie for the heads up on the controller you are using. I was going to go with this one: http://www.nthcoast.com/store/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=67&products_id=1175 but it looks to be just about the same thing you got and yours is cheaper. Northcoast performance can put the package together for $80, this will get you the 2 14" fans and that adjustable controller. I just dont know if it would be worth it to go two controllers.

The fans I used that I linked are actually from northcoast I just got them through amazon but they came from northcoast. Also the controller I bought will run both fans if you choose to go that route I bought 2 so I could run them completely independent of each other as a fail safe. For the extra $25 it cost me I feel it was well worth it and it really wasn't any extra work. I just noticed that the link I gave you for the fans says out of stock but they were $63.00 for both.

 

[spadesluck]

I have contacted them through email and got a package deal setup already for $80 with the one adjustable controller. I may go your route and get the 2 from Advance.

 

[tonydiv]

The only thing to remember, is that even Flex a lite recommends that you only do light duty towing with e-fans. Their setup draws 5500 cfm, which I doubt those other ones even come close to. So if you plan on doing heavy towing, I'd think twice about that mod.